The present invention relates generally to toothbrushes, and, more particularly, to a powered toothbrush having a head with a plurality of movably mounted bristle sections that also comprises of an imaging capturing and storing system that can be later downloaded into a computer or any other similar analyzing device or system.
For ages man has blown the importance of maintaining good oral hygiene. The result of not maintaining good oral hygiene is at best the loss of ones teeth and at worst the start of other immunological diseases that are caused by the decay of the teeth and gums of a human.
The history of recorded oral hygiene has shown how man has evolved from using sticks to clean one's teeth to the present state of the art of using powered toothbrushes to accomplish the same.
The inventor of the present invention has developed a toothbrush that will capture digital images of the user's mouth that also has the dual use of being a rotary toothbrush. The placement of a digital camera in the toothbrush provides the user with one standalone device that allows for the maintenance of one's teeth while preserving the record of the user's mouth over time.
The capturing of the digital images of the user's mouth allows the user to preserve a record of the user's mouth, while also allowing the user to have a record of his or her dental hygiene that can be delivered to a dental professional. This is a key aspect of the present invention.
In the art of powered toothbrushes there are presently many different variation of powered toothbrushes. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,416,942, discloses a motorized anti-plaque toothbrush that comprises a handle at one end of which is a cleaning/massaging head, in particular a brushing head, which rotates about an axis winch is approximately perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the handle and is turned with a continuous one-way rotary motion or with a reciprocating rotary motion by a motor, preferably an electric motor, housed in the handle. According to the invention, the cleaning/massaging head is composed of at least two separate cleaning/massaging tool parts that are supported coaxially with respect to each other in such a way that they can rotate relative to each other, being turned in mutually opposite directions in the case of continuous one-way rotation and in phase opposition to each other in the case of reciprocating rotation. The “942” patent does not disclose a toothbrush that has a replaceable cartridge of rotary bristle tufts that also captures digital images of the user's mouth.
The replaceable cartridge of rotary bristle tufts is another key aspect of the present invention, for the ease of replacement of the cartridge encourages its users to replace the cartridges periodically, thereby limiting the bacteria that can develop over the bristles over time. The replaceable cartridge also allows the user of the toothbrush to have a dual purpose device that does not have to discarded over time because of the buildup of bacteria over the bristles of the toothbrush.
For the foregoing reasons there is a need for a dual purpose toothbrush that will allow a user to clean ins or her teeth and that will also serve the purpose of preserving the record of the user's mouth via stored digital images.